Listen:
Man & The Echo – Operation Margarine

05 Oct 2016

Let us wonder to levels mostly unknown to us and the bands we splash across our pages, dance upon flights of stairs which lead to what feels like enlightenment. Described to us as ‘Hypnotic’ and ‘Northern Funky’, Man & The Echo release ‘Operation Margarine’ the first track from their debut album which is to be released on 1965 Records.

A band well versed in philosophy, as well as uplifting classics, ‘Operation Margarine’ invokes a sober tipsiness and a sense that everything is going to be alright…well better than alright in fact. It could soundtrack your favourite family gathering or not least, add some soul to a small personal victory.

Frontman Gaz Roberts, takes pleasure in his assumed and probable relationship with Roland Barthes, to the point where he once thought he’d stolen a lyric from the French theorist. He was in fact wrong, and to his surprise, the words ‘It’s cheaper than revolution and it tastes the same’ were actually his own. ‘Operation Margarine’ toys with eras, social trends and feelings, it feels like the staple song that the band was built upon. A song that demonstrates the purpose of Man & The Echo at its most pure. The single however was not as easy to record as it is to dance to. Frontman, Gaz explains “Arranging and recording this song was the moment that the album sessions really took off. At one point we nearly dropped it as we just couldn’t work out how to play it, but Fush and Joey worked really hard to get the rhythm section right and give the whole thing this massive disco feel.”

You’d be forgiven for forgetting that beneath the disco centre, lies some important words. Gaz, a disability welfare rights officer, isn’t afraid to tackle matters head on with his music. Whilst the dancing may provide an escape from reality, his words bring us straight back to earth. Something we can look forward to more of upon the release of the full length. He leaves us with this message before we dig in to the track.

“You can read about the bedroom tax and people going to food banks but until you actually meet people, you’ve no idea what the catastrophic impact of a late payment can be,” he says. “When you have to do a food bank voucher for a 70 year old man with cancer you think ‘you really shouldn’t have to be doing this at 70.’”